Download Advertising - Digital place based advertising – Right time, right place

Advertising: Right Time – Right Place
By Lyle Bunn
The following is the full version of what was published in edited form in the January 29, 2010 edition of the
MediaPlanet Digital Signage Supplement included as a special supplement in USA Today (New York,
Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington editions). Lyle Bunn served as principal writer and editor.
Digital signage and Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) offers advertisers reliable, measured
dynamic media presentation with very concise market, location, timing and demographic
targeting at a scale and price that makes DOOH one of the best advertising tools available.
“Targeting !!!” says Jerry Hall, President/CEO, TargetCast Networks, Inc. "Television
viewing is clearly not going away but it is increasingly going away from home." Dan
DeSmet, TargetCast Networks Inc., Vice President of Marketing cites an example of the
enhanced value of Digital Out-of-home. “A recent campaign delivered by our network
for a national telecommunications marketer in multiple markets, featuring different
services, and pricing plans by zip code. Our agency partner provided the creative units
and zip code and we had the campaign up and running in less than 20 minutes. That's
real competitive advantage in today's quick changing economy."
“Digital out-of-home is a growing medium – a significant statement in a time when
traditional media outlets are struggling” says Bill Yackey, editor of online industry
publication DigitalSignageToday.com. “And ad agencies are noticing. Knowing this, the
DOOH industry has begun work to make the buying process easier for those agencies. In
addition to OVAB releasing guidelines for the measurement of DOOH advertising
networks, networks themselves are using research companies to perform network audits
in order to better compare with traditional media. Also, network aggregation services are
emerging and allowing media buyers one stop to place ads to targeted demographics
down to the screen level”.
Adcentricity, a prominent ad sales agency for many DOOH networks, reflects that Digital
Out-of-Home (DOOH) is one of the fastest growing mediums in North America. Total
DOOH spending will hit $4.53 billion in 2013, up from $2.6 billion in 2009, accounting
for 44.1% of all OOH spending. Marketers are increasingly finding digital out-of-home
an effective and efficient medium with 42% of agency and brand marketers planning to
increase their spending in the category this year.
There are approximately 180 DOOH network in USA and 30 in Canada that carry thirdparty advertising. Collectively, there are active media screens in over 70 venue types
each with unique audience and media characteristics. The landscape will continue to
aggressively grow in capacity and market coverage. More than one-third (38%) of active
digital OOH network operators are planning capital investments of between $1M-$10M
to expand their venue and screen capacity in the next 12 months. Just under 20% of them
plan on expanding the screen count to more than 1,000 each.
“Consumer media consumption patterns have changed and the advertising business is
realizing that they need to go where their consumers are -.Digital OOH lines up with that
philosophy of "being there" says Rob Gorrie, CEO of Adcentricity. “Certain brands and
agencies have made dramatic swings in their adoption of Digital OOH in 2009 and have
cut their teeth even more than in the past. In the early adopter category, you have
companies like GM, Verizon and Bank of America who have long been internal
champions of the Digital OOH space. It has not been a question of changing their "view"
of DOOH, more a matter of making it easy to evaluate, buy and execute for the brand and
their agency partner based on their needs. The medium has reached scale, allowing a
much deeper penetration to support campaign efforts. Dramatically larger spending and a
more strategic approach to campaign placement is expected in 2010 and as networks
expand further”.
The efficiencies and lower cost of the ad sales/media placement exchange process
also reduces the cycle time of ad planning, placement and presentation. As media plans
are continuously "tuned" and budgets are continuously refined, this shorter cycle time,
which reflects the nimble-ness that is an inherent characteristic of Digital Signage, is a
significant benefit to marketers and communicators seeking to maximizing ad spending
ROI.
The online ad planning and placement exchange allows advertisers of all market scope
and budget to take advantage of the growing inventory of dynamic digital displays and
the ability to better target audiences in places where people shop, buy, travel, work and
gather.
Organizations with a long history of serving the advertising and media industries are
bringing products that align with agency approaches and requirements. Harris Corp’s
“Punctuate” software for example allows campaign planning, placement and review
across individual networks and platforms. “The promise of digital signage overall that is
exciting is putting content closer to the customer’s action” notes Harris Morris VP
Broadcast, Harris Corp.
Advertising has primarily been placed through direct contact with DOOH network
operators including network association members (See www.OVAB.org and
www.OOHDigital.ca), through Advertising Sales Agencies which represent large
networks and display inventories and can help plan ad placement such as Adcentricity
and SeeSaw Networks and service providers such as rVue ad serving and distribution
technology.
“VUKUNET” advertising exchange was recently announced by NEC Corp. which ranks
85th on Fortune’s Global 500. The “VUKUNET” advertising platform connects digital
out-of-home networks with advertising agencies. The free service can generate
incremental income to existing networks – even existing ad-based networks, can help pay
for new networks and open the door to network expansion.
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The ad exchange is a natural extension for NEC, which ranks No. 1 in North America as
brand vendor of large-format LCD displays (26-inches and larger) and has ranked No. 1
in LCD displays for commercial/public display usage for the last three years according to
DisplaySearch. NEC was ranked No. 1 in digital signage and received Frost & Sullivan’s
prestigious 2008 Customer Value Enhancement Award.
According to the Future Trends Study conducted by the Digital Signage Association,
only about 10 percent of networks are currently running at least 50 percent advertising on
their networks (versus patron, staff and student information). Yet, 60% of the 1200
survey respondents said that they planned to carry 3rd party advertising in future.
The VUKUNET automated ad exchange can make it easy for organizations and network
operators to list their available display “inventory” and for local, regional and national
advertisers to place their ads. The system allows for acceptance of the ad by the network
operator and verification that the ad has run as intended.
Pierre Richer, President & CEO of NEC Display Solutions says “The DS/DOOH industry
is a growing market that combines hardware, software and integration revenue. However,
when one overlays the advertising revenue for digital out-of-home advertising on top of
the digital signage components, there is a significant difference on the plus side. This is
simply a great opportunity for network operators”.
Lyle Bunn is a highly regarded independent consultant and educator in North America’s
Digital Signage Industry. [email protected]
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